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We have six curent staff members of St. John's
church.
Paul Rees-Rohrbacher, Pastor
Jean Kaercher, Secretary
Karen Lapierre, Mission and Ministry
Coordinator
Robert Gray, Sexton
Dan Foster, Music Director
Debra Plue, Child Care Worker
Pastor Rees-Rohrbacher is a graduate of Capital
University, Columbus, Ohio and of The Evangelical Lutheran
Theological Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Ordained in 1978,
Pastor Paul served St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church,
North Tonawanda, New York and St. James Lutheran Church in
Gloversville, New York before coming to Albany in early
1998. He served as the Intentional Interim Pastor at the
Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit in the Delaware Avenue
neighborhood of Albany. Since September 1999 Pastor Paul has
served as the 13th pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran
Church. He also enjoys swimming and reading, is one of the
Friends
of the Albany City Carillon, and is a vice president of
the Capital
District Computer Enthusiasts. Pastor Paul also serves
as vice president of the Capital
Area Council of Churches and vice president of Interfaith
Impact of New York State.
Jean has been a member of St. John's for over thirty
years and has faithfully served as Parish Secretary for
several years. She and her husband David are the proud
parents of Mark & Jessica, Nathan & Suzanne and
Dalynn & Scott. She especially enjoys visits with their
grandchildren in New York and Pennsylvania. Jean spends free
time working on counted cross stitch and Hardanger
embroidery projects, as well as in the perennial gardens at
their home.
Karen has been a member of St. John’s Church
for many years. She and her husband Paul have been involved
in a variety of ministries within the congregation, along
with their children, Matthew and Sarah. Karen’s
experiences with congregational, conference, and synodical
ministries of the ELCA have led her to working together in
mission and ministry with the people of St. John’s
Lutheran Church. She strives to keep us all focused on our
mission – Worship the Lord, Serve Faithfully, Reach
Out!
Sexton, Robert "Rusty" Gray
Rusty comes to us, in the Fall of 2010, from a
recently closed congregation in our neighborhood, Holy
Family Parish. He provided security and worked as Facility
Manager and Custodian for them for several years.
Music Director, Dan Foster
Dan joined the St. John's staff in 2009. He brings
many musical gifts to leading worshiop and music at St.
John's. He is involved in the music scene in the Capital
Region and teaches music lessons in Burnt Hills.
Tenor Dan Foster was trained in Sacred Music at
Westminster Choir College as a singer, pianist, organist,
and conductor. His teachers included Joan Lippincott
(organ), Joseph Flummerfelt and James Jordan (conducting),
Thomas Faracco and Marvin Keenze (voice
performance/pedagogy), and Dalton Baldwin, the late Glenn
Parker, and J.J. Penna (accompanying). He studied the
training of young singers at the American Boychoir
School.
As a tenor, Mr. Foster sang for three years in the
Spoleto Festival International appearing in Der
Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss), The Excursions of
Mr. Brocek (Leos Janacek), and Falstaff (Verdi).
He has sung for two years at the Pitten Festival, Austria,
appearing in The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan), and
La Traviata (Verdi).
Mr. Foster is the founding artistic director of Aoede
Consort, Albany’s premier small ensemble specializing
in early music and living composers. Major works conducted
recently include two Vivaldi settings of the Gloria
(RV 588 and RV 589); Magnificat, Cantata 131
“Aus der Tiefe” and Cantata 140
“Wachet auf” by J.S. Bach; Messiah (G.F. Handel).
June 6, he led Aoede Consort in a performance of Baroque
masterpieces featuring Grand Motet Exaudiat te
Dominus by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Handel's Organ
Concerto, No. 4.
Childcare Worker, Debra Plue
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